Biology

The biologist’s realm is the Earth’s surface and those thin layers above and below in which organisms grow, reproduce and die.

People develop an interest in biology for all sorts of reasons. The workings of the human body are of immediate relevance and many biological matters are topical and receive media coverage. Environmental issues are always in the news, as are medical matters and biotechnology. Biologists are involved in the study of life at all levels, and the application of knowledge in a wide range of contexts.

This course helps students to better understand themselves and their place in the natural world. It allows an in-depth study of a wide range of biological concepts as they apply to biological molecules, cells, organisms, populations and interacting communities. This course is suitable for any student with good scientific ability plus a genuine interest in the living world.

Both SL and HL students study concepts in the core syllabus components.

The core Biology syllabus components are:

• Unity and diversity

• Form and function

• Interaction and interdependence

• Continuity and change

HL students study additional related material in each component.

Grade 11 units

• The Evolution of Life

• The Chemicals of Life

• The Building Blocks of Life

• The Energy for Life

• The Molecules of Inheritance

Grade 12 units

• From DNA to Protein

• The Cycles of Life

• Transporting the Essentials for Life

• Responding to change

• Reproduction and Inheritance 

• practical skills (experimental design, data collection and processing, concluding and evaluating)

• data analysis

• internationalism and Theory of Knowledge aspects of Biology

• presentation skills

• appreciation of the nature of science in every unit

SL external assessment – 80%

• paper 1 (1 hour 30 minutes) – 36%

  • • paper 1A: Multiple-choice questions

    • paper 1B: Data-based questions (four questions that are syllabus related, addressing all themes) 

• paper 2 (1 hour 30 minutes) – 44%

  • • Data-based and short-answer questions 

    • Extended-response questions 

HL external assessment – 80%

• paper 1 (2 hours) – 36%

  • • paper 1A: Multiple-choice questions

    • paper 1B: Data-based questions (four questions that are syllabus related, addressing all themes) 

• paper 2 (2 hours 30 minutes) – 44%

  • • Data-based and short-answer questions 

    • Extended-response questions 

HL and SL internal assessment – 20%

• Individual investigation of 10 hours in duration

Time allocation for practical work

The internal assessment component comprises experimental work and fieldwork. 

Students at SL are required to spend a total of 40 hours, and students at HL 60 hours, on practical activities (excluding time spent writing up work). These times include 10 hours for the Group 4 project and 10 hours for the internal assessment investigation.

Field trip

Previous to the COVID pandemic, all Biology students had the opportunity to participate in a four-day residential trip to Tioman Island, Malaysia to carry out potential internally assessed ecological fieldwork. The cost of this trip was approximately S$890 per student. (Sometimes due to high numbers in the cohort, this field trip can only be offered to HL students).